Improvement in rotary spading-machines



W. WADSWO'RTH.

' Rotary Spader.

No' 39,975. Patented Sept-. 15, ;1863.

NPEIERS, PHOTOJJTHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON, D, C

I I UNITED 1 STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

W. WADSWORTH, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT lN ROTARY SPADlNG-MACHINES.

Specification forming part'of Letters Patent No. 39,975, dated September 15, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, W. WADSWORTH, of Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Rotary Tiller; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side sectional view of my invention, taken in the line m 00, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a rotary spading-drum which will have but a small surface in contact with the earth, so that the latter, when moist, cannot adhere-t0 the drum and be carried around with it, a contingency attending the operation of those machines hitherto devised and which is a great drawback to their successful operation.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and'construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

Arepresents a horizontal frame constructed of two parallel bars, a a, connected by one or more cross-pieces, b.

B is a shaft, which is placed transversely in the frame A, and has two wheels, 0 (J, keyed upon it, said wheels being near the inner surfaces of the bars a a of the frame A.-

D represents a series of shafts, the ends of which pass loosely through the rims of the wheels Q0, and are allowed to turn freely therein. On the ends of these shafts D, at the outer sides of the wheels 0 0, there are affixed arms b, which are slightly curved, as shown in Fig.1. These arms are attached to each end of the shafts, and on each shaft, between the wheels 0 0, there are attached a series of spades, c. The spades are slightly curved longitudinally, as shown clearly in Fig. 1, and they may be connected at their inner or back ends by plates d, which extend the whole length of the shafts D and within the skeleton cylinder, which is composed of the wheels 0 G and shafts D. (See Fig. 1 At each end of this skeleton-drum there is a stationary cam, E, which is simply a bar slightly curved, as shown in Fig.1. These cams E E are attached to the lower ends of plates F, the latter being secured to the inner sides of the bars a a of the frame A. (See Fig.1.) G is a cam which is composed of a plate the ends of which are attached to the inner sides of the bars a a. This cam extends the whole width of the skeleton-drum, and its lower part, c, is at the back part of the drum, the upper part,f, of the cam being of taper form and bent over the upper part of the drum concentric therewith, as will be understood by referring to Figs. 1 and 2.

On each side of the shaft B there is placed a toothed wheel, G, into which pinions H H on a shaft,'I, gear.

From the above description it will be seen that as the machine is drawn or propelled along and the skeleton-drum rotated the spades 0 will be thrown out from the drum in consequence of the arms b of the shafts D coming in contact with the cams E E, and said cams will hold the spades c in proper position while the latter are acting upon the earth, as will be fully understood by referring to Fig. 1. After the spades pass up out of the earth at the back part of the drum they are pressed down, so as to have a tangential .position with the wheels 0 O by means of the cam G, and they are retained in that position until ready to be acted upon or thrown out from the drum in working position by the cams E E. The plates 61 serve to break up or pulverize any clods of earth which may chance to pass into the skeleton-drum, and thereby admit of its free discharge therefrom. The several spadeshafts, D, it will be understood, are turned successively as their arms I) come in contact with the cams E E.

is a rotary harrow, H, which is construted by placing a series of curved or hook-shaped teeth, g, on a shaft, h. The form of the teeth 9 is shown clearly in Fig. 1. The shaft h has its bearings t tattached to a frame, I, the front ends, jj, of which are connected to the under sides of the bars a a of the frame A by means ot'joints or hinges I0 70. This arrangement admits of the harrow being raised or lowered at the will of the operator. This raising-and lowering of the harrow is effected by having the bearings it toothed at their back edges, as shown in Fig. 1,and having toothed segments 1 1 gear into them, said segments being on shaft Jin the frame A, and a handle, K, being at one end of the shaft for the purpose of turning the same. The shaft h of the rotary'harrow is rotated by a belt, m, from the shaft B of the skeleton-drum, the direction of the rotation of which, as well as that of the harrow, is indicated by the arrows in Fig. -l. The

harrow completely pulverizes the earth cast up by the spades, and renders the soil loose and friable.

I do not confine myself to any particular means for rotating the skeleton-drumand rotary harrow. Traction alone may be depended upon or any suitable extraneous power applied for the purpose, and the machine or implement may also be drawn by animals; or steam may be employed as a motor.

I do not claim broadly and separately the employment or use of a rotary harrow, for that has been previously used; nor do I claim broadly the invention of feathering spades arranged upon a rotating drum; but I do claim as new and desire to secure by Leters Patent- The employment of the cleaner or cam G, in combination with the spades d, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein shown and described.

W. WADSWORTH.

Witnesses:

P. RoBINsoN, W. H. O. GRIFFITH. 

